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I thought someone spiked my coffee when someone told me that I agreed with Keith Law (I joke as he is a very nice person face to face, but very opinionated.)

1. Dylan Bundy - I have told friends he was one to watch as as sophomore in area code games. By the time he was a senior, he was arguably the best high school pitcher that I have seen, including Beckett and Verlander. He has to continue to improve facets of his game, but starting off the on the right foot and still continues to look the part of the "Ace". Long way to go to be ranked with the true shutdown pitchers of today's game, but heading in the right direction.

2. Manny Machado - Forget the errors, forget the slumps, this kid is still a highly sought after player. He looked head and shoulder above his high A peers last season, would not surprise me to see the same. He just is a tireless worker, look at how much muscle this kid put on this season and he has the range to continue at SS. In my eyes, he has star potential.

3. Kevin Gausman - I have no worries about him signing and I think his blend of arm speed, arsenal, and slight projection gives an argument that the Orioles could have two potential Ace type pitchers (albeit I think his is slim b/c of command).

4. Jonathan Schoop - Fans need to remember that he is two years younger than most of his peers and not everyone has the fast track ability of Bryce Harper. He will take his lumps, but his bat has serious dual threat potential. He can fit in any three of the infield positions and at worst the arm strength would be deadly in RF.

Before Season5. Parker Bridwell - This kid has a TON of talent, just needs to improve his confidence and mental toughness. The tools are present and he is simply allowing things outside of his control get in his way. Over-thinking and not having a repetitive pattern of thoughts to maintain focus is a major hurdle to overcome. Once this happens, he can allow his natural given talents to shine and hit the ground running as a high No. 2 ceiling starter. If the hurdle does not happen, he has closer electric arm.

During Season5. Nick Delmonico - I thought the injuries had a lot of to do with his sub-par bat speed and inconsistency last spring. He has the foundation to hit for high contact with a solid approach and his maturation has power reaching above average (maybe plus) ability because he shows pop and high gap power at this stage. Adding another 15 pounds will greatly enhance his offensive ability. The one thing to take notice is the amount of swing and miss, but I need to see it for myself to think this is a problem or just first season adjustments to a better class of off-speed offerings consistently.

Bridwell is very young, he needs to get experience. He has a heavy fastball which is good to see. Still learning to pitch, he is going to have to transition away from being a thrower. I think he is a real wild card, we have all seen guys like him come along before and never figure "it" out. If he can progress as a starter, we could have one great young rotation come 2014 ish.....

birdwatcher55 wrote:Where is Delmonico on this list???? I would slot him ahead of Schoop and Machado at this point. Just my two cents

Maybe you should finish reading the original post. Someone could MAYBE make an argument slotting Delmonico ahead of Schoop but definitely not Machado. Machado is only about 2 weeks older than Delmonico and he's two levels ahead of him. No one knows where Delmonico ends up playing in the field, and until he shows he can play somewhere other than 1B, he's only a good prospect and not a great one with how he's currently projected to hit.

birdwatcher55 wrote:Not sure I would rate Machado as a great prospect right now. Perhaps I will think differently after the season.

What more could you want from Machado right now?

He has a 101 OPS+ and he's 5 years younger than the average Eastern League hitter. Nothing to complain about here. He's 19 in AA and is not just holding his own, but is better than the average player in the Eastern League.

How in the world can you right now like Delmonico better long term? When comparing Delmarva’s statistics and their statistics this year (Delmonico and Machado are both 19 this year), you have to say that Machado is the better prospect and you have to like him better long term. Not to mention that Machado plays a more demanding defensive position and Delmonico still doesn't have a position.